Microsoft Announces 300 million MAU, Reportedly Decouples Teams from Office to Avoid an EU Antitrust Probe

Microsoft revealed that it has reached 300 million monthly active users (MAU) during its Q3 2023 earnings call.

Other notable takeaways from the earnings call include the Microsoft Cloud producing a quarterly revenue of more than $28 billion, a 22 percent increase which the business views as evidence of its “continued leadership” across the tech sector.

Generally, results surpassed expectations. Microsoft’s third-quarter revenue of $52.9 billion was up 7 percent and 10 percent in constant currency, which Amy Hood, CFO of Microsoft, attributed to the success of the sales teams and partners’ performance.

Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, said:

Teams usage is at an all-time high and surpassed 300 million monthly active users this quarter, and we once again took share across every category from collaboration to chat to meetings to calling as we add value for existing customers and win new ones like ABN AMRO, Jaguar Land Rover, Mattress Firm, Unisys and Vodafone.”

Nadella also noted that Microsoft had launched a new version of Teams that delivered up to two times faster performance while using 50 percent less memory, which he added will prepare them for the introduction of their AI-powered productivity tool, Copilot.

In other Microsoft news, the Financial Times reported on Monday that the tech giant will no longer automatically bundle Teams with Office in a move to avoid a formal EU antitrust investigation.

The alleged concession means that when prospective customers buy Office in the future, they will have the choice of whether the purchase will also include Teams or not. EU regulators had been in discussions with Microsoft since rivals Slack made an official complaint in 2020 claiming that Microsoft’s bundling of Office and Teams together is uncompetitive.

Microsoft told the Financial Times: “We are mindful of our responsibilities in the EU as a major technology company. We continue to engage cooperatively with the commission in its investigation and are open to pragmatic solutions that address its concerns and serve customers well.”

However, the Financial Times‘ sources stressed that talks are ongoing between both parties and that the mooted deal has not yet been confirmed.

Slack, Teams and Zoom Receive Further Threat Protection from Abnormal Security

Cloud-based email security provider Abnormal Security has launched new threat detection capabilities for Teams, Zoom and Slack.

Abnormal’s three new email-like products are designed to help customers of the Teams, Zoom and Slack platforms detect suspicious messages, remedy compromised accounts, and provide data and management services for security posture. The new solutions are included as add-ons to the Abnormal Inbound Email Security offering and are generally available at launch.

Evan Reiser, Chief Executive Officer at Abnormal Security, said: “Abnormal’s platform uses an anomaly detection engine that ingests and correlates 45,000 plus behavioural signals from email platforms (Microsoft 365, Google Workplace), EDR platforms (CrowdStrike), authentication platforms (Okta), and email-like applications such as Slack, Microsoft Teams, and Zoom. Signals include sign-in events, geo-location, compromised identities, and communication patterns in messaging.”

In other Slack news, the vendor also launched a new collaborative canvas this week.

Slack Canvas intends to enhance real-time collaboration between teams in Slack channels via the new information-sharing hub, boosting productivity.

“Although we have more tools and ways of exchanging ideas than ever before,” the “Team at Slack” wrote in a blog post, “it’s becoming increasingly difficult for teams to manage, find and share knowledge and team resources(…) Today we’re beginning the rollout of Slack Canvas, a new surface where teams can create, organise and share essential information – all inside Slack, your productivity platform.”

Sinch Enhances Enterprise Voice with Synoptek Partnership

Sinch has partnered with the digital transformation consultancy Synoptek to implement enterprise-friendly professional services for Microsoft Teams Phone System.

Synoptek, a Microsoft Gold partner and Teams expert, enables Sinch to establish managed services into Microsoft Teams Phone System with Operator Connect or Direct Routing solutions. The partnership was inspired by enterprise customers’ demand for more flexible professional services that allow them to manage the implementation, deployment and support of the Microsoft Teams Phone System and the connectivity to the public switched telephone network (PSTN).

John Schoder, Chief Revenue Officer at Sinch, highlighted that the partnership will allow the two companies to combine “the power of the Sinch network and Synoptek’s expertise with Microsoft Teams.” The resulting solution can ensure the proper completion of every process of a business’s digital transformation to Teams for voice services.

With businesses migrating to the cloud with Teams as their primary phone system to streamline efficiencies and reduce costs, Sinch, a Microsoft Operator Connect partner, offers an intuitive process for these businesses moving their voice services into Teams. The managed services produced via Sinch’s partnership with Synoptek will enable businesses to complete their cloud migration more efficiently.

CallCabinet Now Available in the Microsoft Azure Marketplace

CallCabinet’s compliance recording offering is now available in the Microsoft Azure Marketplace. CallCabinet users can leverage the Azure cloud platform, with the capability to streamline deployment and management.

Through the Microsoft Azure Marketplace, an online store that provides applications and services for use on Azure, businesses can now access CallCabinet’s cloud-native compliance call recording platform, which provides quality assurance automation and conversation analytics.

Ron Romanchik, Chief Strategy Officer at CallCabinet, said:

We continue our drive to make complete call compliance with unsurpassed business intelligence easier for enterprises worldwide. Our solution provides a Microsoft Teams app add-in with high levels of recording control. CallCabinet’s availability through the Microsoft Azure Marketplace is the logical and exciting next step in our longstanding relationship with Microsoft.”

CallCabinet’s extended availability enables organisations worldwide to be compliant with regulations, particularly those operating within heavily regulated industries. Businesses can buy CallCabinet licenses and services annually or month-to-month via the Azure Marketplace.



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